The annual survey is a barometer of current perceptions as expressed by Internations’ members who are primarily foreign expats situated across the world, including those in Mexico.

Measure twice, cut once

These surveys help to raise awareness about certain places and offer some helpful snapshots concerning the current mood among those seeking or living lifestyles abroad, and the criteria measured for selecting the best destinations —quality of life, ease of settlement, and cost of living, etc. —are valid and universal attractions of living anywhere.

Moving overseas is a significant commitment of yours and your family’s time, resources, energy, and emotions, and your reasons for moving to any place abroad ought to be considered with careful deliberations founded on your core lifestyle intentions.

Consider what you’re seeking from a lifestyle in Mexico

Mexico offers genuine substance and value to foreign residents, and to figure out what you’re seeking from a new lifestyle here, it’s helpful to define your intentions and consider whether Mexico is right for you—and your partner and family, if relevant.

To achieve this, you need to step back from the idealistic portrayals often espoused by those ‘living the dream’ narratives so often seen published and:

• take a mindful pause and define your lifestyle intentions;
• consider what matters are important to you and those close to you;
• overlay those things with what Mexico offers for living and lifestyle; and
• consider how you’ll navigate the compromises you’ll inevitably have to make when you come and live here.

Lifestyle planning requires focus and support

You can never plan for every potential outcome, but having a clear idea about your core intentions will give you an anchor that you can return to through the inevitable periods of uncertainty and doubt that will arise as you move and settle-in to a new and different life situation in Mexico.

The matter of considering and defining your lifestyle intentions, and how Mexico does or does not fit well with those, is an important and substantial subject that is covered in-depth in our detailed articles about living and retirement in Mexico—see links below to get started.

A wealth of local knowledge, resources, and connections

When you’re exploring the possibilities that Mexico offers, Mexperience provides a comprehensive online resource that enables you to discover opportunities and temper the unbridled enthusiasm that’s sometimes painted by idealistic notions of living abroad.

The information we publish and share helps you to make considered choices, formulate a plan, and shows how you can realize that plan through constructive and sustainable changes in lifestyle.

Begin exploring your choices for a new and different life in Mexico:

• Key factors to consider as you plan your lifestyle in Mexico
• Latest articles and insights about Mexico lifestyle planning
• Key resources for planning a new lifestyle in Mexico
• Exploring potential locations to live in Mexico
• Learn about acquiring legal residency in Mexico
• Our Home Life section shares detailed practical insights about day-to-day living matters in Mexico

Obtaining assistance

Our associates provide helpful assistance services which provide key support for your Mexico lifestyle plans.  These include:

• Immigration assistance when you need help with your with your residency permits.
• Insurance services – mitigate the effects of unforeseen events with coverages for your vehicle, home, health and travel.
• Professional services – when you need counsel or advice about property, commercial or legal matters in Mexico.
• Real estate assistance – when you need help finding a property in Mexico.
• Spanish language study – obtain help when you want to learn or improve your Spanish.
• Leisure time – with Mexico on your doorstep, our travel associates can help you see more of it with carefully crafted custom tours that help you to make the most of your leisure time.

Considerations for a car-free lifestyle in Mexico

If you have become tired of car dependency and have a lifestyle that doesn’t demand regular use of a privately-owned car, then it’s worth considering locations in Mexico which better lend themselves to using public transport.

For example, the centers of many of Mexico’s traditional colonial cities like San Miguel Allende and Guanajuato are characterized by narrow, sometimes cobbled, streets which don’t lend themselves too well to regular driving, and so walking or taking a local taxi are viable alternatives.

Other places in Mexico, like Nuevo Vallarta and Aguascalientes, are far more spread-out so owning a car is more convenient —and perhaps essential— in these types of places.

Car costs versus public transport

People working independently or retiring to Mexico seeking simpler lifestyles have come to learn that with some adjustments to their daily routines, they can get-by without owning a vehicle here as their lifestyles can be more easily adjusted to cope without regular use of a car.

If you work from home, or if you’re retired and don’t need a car every day, you could find that adding-up the cost of using taxis over a year may amount to less than the cost of buying and running a car. If you need a car for a weekend get-away, or a long road trip, car rental is readily available in Mexico.

Local and intercity bus services

Bus services (local and intercity buses) are plentiful, and relatively inexpensive. If you live in Mexico City or Monterrey, you could also make use of the metro train system to get around.

Many cities have introduced ‘Metro Buses’ which are special lanes reserved exclusively for bus routes making those journeys faster than battling through traffic congestion which is increasingly common in urban areas.  If you’re not keen on using buses or metro trains, there is another alternative: local taxis…

Affordable local taxi cabs

Local taxi journeys, for example from your home into town and back, can cost just a few dollars, and local taxi firms will send a cab to pick you up from your home, office, a restaurant, supermarket, or even a street corner if you telephone them (some even have WhatsApp accounts so you can text your request).

App-Cab services are also popular here, and Uber and DiDi have expanded across key towns and cities throughout Mexico, giving easy and direct access to a car and a driver whenever you need it if you live in one of the places served by these firms.

Shopping without a car

Shopping in Mexico without your own car can be less convenient in some circumstances, especially if you live in an urban area and shop regularly at modern supermarkets situated out-of-town; but it is do-able.

If you choose to live in a smaller town, and you’re close to the center or near local shopping centers, you might walk or cycle more as local amenities tend to be grouped close together, and a taxi can carry you on longer journeys, or to bring you back home from shopping trips—bags and all.

Most modern supermarkets have a taxi rank (sitio) situated at the store’s car park, or on a street adjacent.  You can also hail an App Cab (e.g. Uber) from a supermarket.

Some supermarkets in larger Mexican cities now offer home delivery, and in some smaller provincial towns you can phone a local taxi firm and ask them to pick-up groceries or other goods from local stores or markets and deliver them to your home.

Running your own car in Mexico

Some foreign residents in Mexico have lifestyles that make car ownership necessary.  For example, they might live far outside of the town center, or in a rural area off-the-beaten track, or they might have regular commitments like a work commute, or taking and picking-up children to a school, as well other extracurricular activities.

Running your own car is convenient and there’s no denying that it offers a degree of freedom and flexibility that no other mode of transport (even taxis) can directly replace—although it’s surprising how many people living here arrived being fed-up with car dependency and prefer being driven around in taxis when they need transport, and take intercity buses or flights for longer trips when they are visiting friends, going to meet clients, or taking a vacation.

Car costs and maintenance

If you enjoy running your own car, you’ll find that Mexico offers plenty of infrastructure and services for car-owners.

The cost of running a car in Mexico is generally lower than in the US, Canada, and Europe, but costs are rising (including the cost of gasoline) and you can expect your private car to be significant a line-item on your annual budget.  You can learn more about driving in Mexico and the cost of car ownership on our guide to living costs in Mexico.

If you’re contemplating buying a car on credit in Mexico, be aware that car financing costs are likely to be considerably higher here than you may be used to in your home country (check details with your bank or car dealership) and any savings you enjoy in running costs might be outweighed by the higher repayment costs.

Keeping a foreign-plated car in Mexico

Foreign residents who plan to bring a foreign-plated vehicle to Mexico should read this article, as there are various requirements to comply with and, under the current rules, the type of residency permit you hold determines whether you can keep a foreign-plated car in Mexico.

Whether you bring a foreign-plated car with you, or buy a Mexican-plated car locally, you’ll need to get adequate car insurance for the vehicle.  Learn more about getting insured when you’re driving in Mexico.

Making a choice based on your needs

Everybody’s lifestyle situation is slightly different, and it might be that you begin living in Mexico without a car and later realize that you need one—or vice-versa.

If your lifestyle doesn’t demand the regular use of a car, you’ll be able to reduce your annual expenditures and many foreign residents in this situation find that they come to value public transport as a practical means of getting around.

If you’re interested in exploring ways to reduce complexity in your lifestyle, you can learn more about simplifying your lifestyle in Mexico here on Mexperience.

Our guides to Transport in Mexico enable you to get a good understanding of the extensive transport options available to you when you’re in Mexico and guide to the Cost of Living in Mexico, which is updated annually, will help you to create a budget based on your individual lifestyle choices.

Mexico is popular with foreign residents

Mexico is already host to a strong contingent of foreign residents who live here full time or part time, and although the reasons they tend to cite for choosing to live in Mexico vary, common themes include a welcoming culture, agreeable climates, the delicious flavors and fresh produce, and affordable living costs.

Improved transportation infrastructure and access to information online is also causing off-the-beaten-track places in Mexico —some of which were completely unheard of just a decade or two ago— to emerge as desirable destinations for people seeking alternative living styles.

It’s not just the retired who are seeking change: we’re receiving interest from people in their middle-ages, and even some younger working-age people whose transferable skills enable them exercise their talents in various areas of the ‘knowledge economy’—especially online working.

Locations for simple living in Mexico

Locations in Mexico which offer potential for foreign residents seeking simplified and sustainable living choices in the years and decades ahead include:

• Morelia and Pátzcuaro in the state of Michoacán;
• San Cristóbal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas;
• Mérida on the Yucatán peninsula,
• Veracruz and Campeche on the Gulf Coast,
• Mazatlán and Manzanillo on the shores of the Pacific,
• Guanajuato and Querétaro, in the colonial heartland; and
• San Felipe, Loreto, and La Paz on the Baja peninsula.
• Mexico City remains a popular choice for those who like living in an urban setting, and working foreign residents are particularity taken by neighborhoods like Condesa, Del Valle, Nápoles, and Roma—as well parts of the refurbished Centro Histórico.
• If you want to be near Mexico City but away from the capital, consider Cuernavaca and Tepoztlán.

Rural and semi-rural living

Outside of Mexico City, the places mentioned above offer rural or semi-rural settings with good road and/or air connections. Although most of them are some distance away from the urban buzz of Mexico’s three big cities, they nonetheless offer key services foreigners seek like healthcare, good transportation links, and reliable internet connections—as well as ready-access to modern amenities foreign residents tend to use on a regular basis.  Learn more about the pros and cons of living in the Mexican countryside.

Affordable living costs

Another attraction for people seeking an alternative lifestyle here is the lower cost of living in Mexico—which translates into things like more retirement savings for those still in their working-age, and more sustainable living standards for those on fixed incomes in retirement.  Sustainable life styles are about living materially simply and taking responsibility for the choices we make, for example, by taking into account our consumption habits and how we plow value into the local communities we adopt.  Download the free guide to the cost of living in Mexico from our Mexico eBooks library,

Living simply and living well in Mexico

Every year people come to Mexico seeking ways to simplify their life styles: moving here to Mexico to live well, but live more simply.  The questions we get asked by email, the articles people are reading on Mexperience, and the free guides people are downloading from our Mexico eBooks library reveal trends that indicate people are actively considering how they can live differently—and they’re considering how Mexico could be part of the changes they seek.

Further reading

Mexperience helps you to discover Mexico including how to live more simply:

• Lifestyle planning – helpful article about planning a new lifestyle in Mexico
• Simple living in Mexico
• Could you live ‘off-grid’ in Mexico?
• Guide to retirement in Mexico
• Healthcare and well-being in Mexico
• Mexico Essentials – practical information about living and lifestyle

The things you need to live well, to live comfortably, and to live simply are here.  They probably aren’t in the shapes and forms that you’re used to seeing; and how they manifest themselves might be different and, at first, alien to your customs.  This journey of discovery is one that you’ll have to undertake consciously if you intend to create a new lifestyle for yourself in Mexico.

Full adoption of any foreign country requires compromise, acceptance, and understanding.  Moving to Mexico will oblige you to change habits, surrender certain whims, and accept life for what it is, not what you wish it or demand it to be.  In return, Mexico could gift new dimensions to your life, for example, by encouraging you to see beyond your current horizon, and connecting you to friends of the kind you never thought possible.

You will witness the kindnesses and wickedness of human nature as the well-documented contrasts present themselves regularly.  Situations here will at times frustrate you or annoy you; sometimes they will appear to tease you for no apparent reason.

Mexico can also fill you with an energy and joy that will remain in you always.  It’s this spontaneous tapestry that creates the almost mystical allure that has brought foreigners to live here, and live out their lives here, for better and for worse, for centuries.  And when —or more precisely, if— you can find peace with all that Mexico is and all that Mexico is not, you will begin to find your place in these lands. If you don’t or discover that you can’t tread that testing path and adapt, Mexico will surely break your endeavors and send you back whence you came.

You might choose a big city, a home in the mountains, or perhaps you’ll find a tranquil place to live beside the ocean, or in the Mexican countryside.  The topographical diversity here offers ample choice of locations.

Whatever location you choose, your true place, when you find it in Mexico, will be anchored in the spaces that you will come to adore but which you cannot easily define, and in the feelings you hold for them which cannot be easily expressed.

It has been said that Mexico deposits a certain dust on visitors’ shoes that will cause them to return for good, or never again.  The allegory fits well with the contrasts so often cited in lore, but it would be foolhardy to encapsulate that thing, that indefinable attendance which attracts and repels so many to these complex and absorbing lands, in such black-and-white terms.  To adapt, you’ll need to turn up with an open mind, with courage and tenacity, and be prepared to craft your own story here—on Mexico’s terms.

If what you’re seeing on the news keeps you away from Mexico, your perceptions have been hijacked before you allowed yourself an opportunity to better understand these lands, and see what others here see: a country in transition, a country which is, by and large, less violent than those places where stones are so readily thrown from glass houses.

Finding your place in Mexico requires due course.  There are no shortcuts, no tricks or cheats to download, no instant answers.  And as you embark on this journey you’ll never quite understand how irrelevant all your preconceptions are to become as Mexico simultaneously encourages and obliges you to find your peace amidst its contrasts and eccentricities.

If you come to truly embrace Mexico, as its closest friends who are foreign-born to these lands do, it will most likely be through a baptism of fire that will test your character, your mettle, and your heart; through a journey of discovery that brings you to being each day and a knowing within that here is where your life belongs.

Resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• Helpful articles to help you plan your Mexico lifestyle
• Insights and tips for settling-in and cultivating a life here
• Detailed information about seeking residency in Mexico
• Detailed guides to cultivating your life and lifestyle in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

This article highlights significant practical aspects to consider when you’re preparing your short-list of potential places to live in Mexico.

Accessibility, transport, and telecom links

Mexico has excellent transport links including roads, tolled highways, bus stations and airports; most Mexican towns and cities where foreign residents invest are well served by these.

If you’re dependent on internet services for work, then you should check the availability of internet services if you’re scouting for a home situated in (semi)rural or remote areas; reliable high speed internet via satellite is available, but it costs more.

Small towns and villages in rural areas may appear like idyllic lifestyle choices, but local roads may be challenging to navigate; street lighting may be limited or non-existent, and a remote rural home requires you to consider your security arrangements as these houses can make easy pickings for burglars—especially when you’re away.

Consider also how often you intend to travel, as well as how your location is served by transportation in respect to friends and family (possibly living outside of Mexico) who want to visit you. Rural and semi-rural areas in Mexico, may be served by local roads which take longer to travel across and the nearest airport or bus station might be a significant distance away—requiring more time and effort for you to get around and for others to visit you.

The effects of local topography

Mexico is a mountainous country, and some excellent places to live in are built —quite literally— into the side of a mountain.  The colonial cities of Taxco and Guanajuato are good examples of this.

Consider how you will negotiate walking up and down steep, possibly cobbled, streets—sometimes wet from the rains.  Some beautiful colonial homes may be built on several levels due to the local mountain topography they are situated on.

If your current health requires you to live in a relatively flat area, or you sense that steep hills and cobblestones may pose physical challenges as you age, consider the location’s topography in your deliberations.

Coping with the year-round climate

There’s a significant difference between going somewhere for a short vacation and living in that location’s climate throughout the year.  Some places that are warm in the summer can get quite cool or cold in the winter; and others which offer perfect weather in the winter can become oppressively hot and humid in the summer.

Consider the differences between the sea-level coastal and high-altitude mountain climates Mexico offers—and consider the year-round climate cycles, not just those experienced in any given month or season.

Climate influences us every day: it would be a pity to invest in a property purchase and discover afterwards that you’re just not suited to its location’s climate.

Assess the local services and amenities

Consider what local amenities exist (or may exist soon) including shops, markets, restaurants, cafés, cultural centers, as well as social and leisure facilities.

Availability of, and ease of access to, helpful local services and amenities has a significant impact on the attractiveness of a location. Ready access to local amenities provides practical support every day, and meeting local people to develop new friendships requires spaces and venues to facilitate those opportunities.

Small rural towns with few amenities nearby are not likely to attract many future buyers (foreign residents or Mexicans) as most people want to be within easy reach of services, shops, and social amenities they like to use regularly.

Unless you purposely seek a reclusive lifestyle, paying attention to local amenities —not just in quantity but in quality— will share clues as to the attractiveness to others of a place; this will become especially relevant when you eventually decide to sell your house and move.

Consider your life stage and everyday needs

Our needs evolve as we grow older and our life situations change.  It’s a good idea to pause and take stock of your present lifestyle needs as well as likely needs in the years ahead.

It’s easy to mistakenly assume that what you needed yesterday you will need tomorrow, and it’s also easy to overlook emerging new needs when you are in the throes of choosing a different place to live.

Beware of the trap of placing false importance on features, amenities and services which you are not likely to make proper use of —or use only very occasionally— while simultaneously ignoring the absence of things in the locality that are genuinely important to your needs and wellbeing.  Your location ought to provide the things that are most important to you and your life situation every day; as the saying goes, “the most important thing is to know what is most important.”

Consider social, cultural, and community aspects

Local amenities and civic organizations are among the fundamental building blocks which define any thriving local community, and while practical aspects of a location including transport accessibility and the availability of local services and amenities are important, it’s also wise to consider the social, cultural, and community aspects of the location(s) you are considering as part of a lifestyle move.

Assessing whether a location will serve your social and cultural needs and the potential impact that a move there will have on you requires knowing yourself—and yourselves if you are thinking about moving with a partner or family.

Knowing yourself, considering your life stage and intentions, and comprehending your present and foreseeable needs will enable you to consider potential places in balance and help you to make a location choice based on things that matter instead of potentially misplaced notions about a location’s attractiveness.

When you’re short-listing places for potential settlement in Mexico, take some time to explore and discover the local social, cultural and community scenes and then step back to pause and ask yourself whether the location’s character and composition in regard to these facets are likely to align with your character traits and evolving lifestyle needs.

If socializing is an important aspect of your lifestyle, consider how the composition of the location’s community groups will influence this in your daily life.  For example, most rural villages and hamlets in Mexico don’t have foreign residents living in clusters that form local ‘expat’ communities of they type which can provide an immediate ‘community of interest’ and by extension social support in the locality.  By contrast, some other places (for example, Lake Chapala and San Miguel de Allende) have large and long-established communities of foreign residents—but for some, this level of concentration is overwhelming.

If you need ample cultural amenities to support your wellbeing, for example, ready access to art galleries, music halls, theater and dance, spirituality and well-being centers, as well as other cultural events, consider how the locations you’re short-listing provide for those—or how far you’ll need to travel (round trip) to access them.

For some people considering a move to Mexico, the notion of being ensconced in a rural setting far away from the crowds is attractive and perhaps even desirable. However, even the most hermit-like people discover that they need to make an effort to integrate their lifestyles amidst rural locations where local customs and traditions are keenly observed, and local residents are expected to participate and contribute when important local events, festivals, and activities take place.

Property prices and rents in Mexican towns and cities with well-established communities of foreign residents and/or with a higher concentration cultural amenities tend to be higher than places where foreign residents are less concentrated, or where the social community is less-well developed.

If you seek an established community with plenty of cultural amenities on tap but you don’t want (or can’t afford) to pay a premium for it, consider locations where the community is still fledgling, or view the location in terms of the potential it may have for growing a community—and consider also how you could be part of the catalyst that helps to develop it.

Our extensive guides to living and retirement in Mexico, contain detailed information about considering your lifestyle intentions and tips for choosing places to live in Mexico, including locations to consider.

Our series, Essential Skills for Expats in Mexico, provides some helpful insights to help you consider the practical aspects of settling-down in Mexico.

Consider your health and medical care needs

Very small rural towns and villages and hamlets won’t have medical facilities on-hand.  Small towns may have a local clinic offering basic services; some mid-size towns may have a choice of local doctors and dentists; but if you choose to live in a rural or semi-rural setting, then a trip to the nearest large town or city will be required when you have significant medical or health care needs.

Some gated communities that are specially tailored and marketed to foreign retirees offer professionally managed medical facilities on-site, but you’ll pay a premium for this, and they might not be situated in a region or location in Mexico where you want to live.

If you have a known medical condition that may require immediate medical assistance at any time, you ought to choose your location accordingly and avoid any places that will require a long road trip to the nearest suitable medics facility.

See our guide to healthcare in Mexico for general information and read this article on medical insurance options when you’re planning to be in Mexico longer-term.

Undertake your own local house price research

A common mistake made by foreign renters and buyers is comparing the price of a house they see in Mexico with the price of an equivalent-sized property in their home country.

Without comparison to the local market, a monthly rental or purchase price you think is reasonable or inexpensive may actually be an inflated price aimed at buyers who have not undertaken sufficient market research.

When considering price value, be mindful that your property will be situated in Mexico, it will be surrounded by amenities and services commensurate with the locale, and the investment will be subject to local or regional market trends.

You can use local property portals like MetrosCubicos, VivaAnuncios and InMuebles24 to gauge current market prices for purchase and rental; it’s common to negotiate the price and most property sales close between 10%-15% lower than the market list price; rentals are also subject to negotiation.

Our extensive guides to buying and selling real estate in Mexico provides further insights and the regularly-updated guide to the cost of living in Mexico provides a wider perspective on housing costs here.

Rent first if you don’t know the area

Unless you’re familiar with the area and know that you’ll feel comfortable there, we recommend you rent first. Renting a home will enable you to enjoy a settled presence locally so that you can get a feel for the location, discover the local amenities, neighborhoods, and community aspects, as well as get a handle on the local property market and its price nuances.

Renting also enables you to search for your new home purchase without the pressures of a time-pressured ‘scouting visit.’  Locations that have few property rentals offered, or where rentals are limited may be a disincentive to potential foreign buyers who want to rent before they buy. Read our guides to renting property in Mexico for details and useful insights.

Schooling for your children

For families with school-age children, the choice of location might be determined by the type of schooling parents seek for their offspring, and places off the beaten path in rural locations, while idyllic, might not be practical.

If you have children of school age, consider what schooling is available in the localities you research. Smaller towns might have adequate kindergartens and primary schools situated in the locale, but if you live in a (semi)rural area schooling arrangements can become more complex especially when your children move up to higher levels of education.

If your children are still young, take into consideration how the locations you short-list will serve your family’s changing schooling requirements as the children grow-up. (Some families choose to home school, but this poses its own set of challenges.)  Read more about schooling your children in Mexico.

Discover places to live in Mexico

Discover interesting and charming locations to live, work or retire in Mexico, and articles with helpful insights about choosing a place to settle here on Mexperience.

Resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• Detailed guides about relocating to Mexico
• Insightful articles about living and lifestyle in Mexico
• Detailed insights for lifestyle planning and your home life in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

Another important aspect regarding your choice of location as you short-list places for your home here is whether to live in a town or city, or in a rural or semi-rural area.

Country living in Mexico: the charms

There are many attractions to living in the Mexican countryside.  The principal ones include:

Creating your countryside idyll

There’s something comforting about taking enjoyment in a home situated in the Mexican countryside, away from the hustle of urban pursuits and the congestion of contemporary pressures; living amidst the sounds and scents of nature.

The pace of life is more gentle and so, it seems, are the people—often with the benefit of vibrant local communities who organize themselves around common interests. A country home in Mexico can offer this idyll, far enough away from urban sprawls characterized by rushed lifestyles, and often close enough to a town or city where a plentiful choice of services and amenities may be readily obtained.

Rural living in a small Mexican town or village promises respite from the urban ‘rat-race,’ a place where you can live life more deliberately, where young children can experience their childhood in large gardens and wander picturesque streets, and where life’s demands at least appear to be a little less demanding.  The charms of living in the Mexican countryside are  alluring—and it can be quite affordable…

Affordability

Whether you are renting or buying a property here, you’ll usually pay less per square meter of land and living space in Mexico’s (semi)rural areas than you will in urban towns and cities, especially in comparison to the country’s three big cities: Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.

Provincial cities in Mexico’s highlands —whether urban or (semi)rural— can offer some of the best value real estate in Mexico, although prices are very localized, so you need to examine markets on a per-location basis.

There are some notable exceptions where property prices in provincial areas can be as high as, or higher, than urban alternatives.  Perhaps the most notable of these is San Miguel de Allende—a colonial mountain town where prices have soared in recent years and homes in the center are comparable in cost to Mexico’s City’s most expensive neighborhoods.

Valle de Bravo and Tepoztlán —semi-rural colonial enclaves within relatively easy reach of the capital that have been popular with Mexicans and foreign residents for decades— are two other provincial locations where residents pay a premium to rent or buy.

Nature and outdoor living

Living in the Mexican countryside gives you easy access to Mexico’s natural habitats, country walks, and breath-taking natural landscapes.  The sound of crickets chirping at night is a sure sign you’re falling asleep in a rural idyll, and a dawn chorus of birdsong drifting through your bedroom window adds to the charm when you wake up in the morning.

In addition to the immediate access to nature, country homes tend to offer ample gardens, some have outdoor swimming pools, and many feature quaint terraces which provide attractive spaces for outdoor living and entertaining.

Local people and community

People living in rural and semi-rural spaces tend to be more laid-back than their urban counterparts.  You’re more likely to be greeted with a cheerful ‘buenos dias’ on a morning stroll than doing the same thing in urban areas, where locals are generally much more rushed and pressured by the events of their daily lives.

Smaller towns also like to show-off their community spirit: both foreign residents and local Mexicans organize events which, with a bit of local research, you can learn about and be welcomed to as an active participant.

Relaxed and laid-back country lifestyle

Countryside living in Mexico is taken at a slower pace and rhythm than urban life.  Provincial rural or semi-rural areas are often the environment of choice for retired people who don’t have the pressures and responsibilities of professional lives, and young families to raise.

Some foreign residents of working age —and even those with young children— do establish lifestyles and become an intrinsic part of local communities in Mexico’s provincial outlying towns and villages and this trend might accelerate with the increasing interest in working ‘online’ with the requirement for physical commutes being less frequent, or perhaps even non-existent.

Country living in Mexico: the compromises

As you explore options for countryside living in Mexico, consider the compromises you’ll have to make, which include:

Physical accessibility and transport links

When you’re researching places to live in the Mexican countryside, consider how the locations you are short-listing will affect how much time and effort it will take for you to get around —and for others to visit you— if this is important to your lifestyle.

Local country roads in Mexico can be adequate but usually take longer to traverse than the line on the map suggests.  Some of the access roads may cut through mountains or jungle terrain.

Country roads which pass through small hamlets often feature obstructions like speed-bumps, farm animals, and dogs wandering into the road space, as well local events like festivals or funeral processions adding to the myriad of combinations that can delay your journey’s progress.

When getting to where you need to be matters —for example, when you have a flight to catch or a meeting to attend— these otherwise quaint experiences become reminders about the compromises made in rural living in Mexico.

Consider how often you intend to travel and what transport links exist to facilitate your movements, including the state of local roads, local public transportation, bus stations and airports for longer trips and connections to places abroad.

Most foreign residents living in Mexico like friends and family to visit them, including visits from those living outside of Mexico.  Locations in rural or semi-rural Mexico might be served by local roads which take longer to travel across, local public transportation might be limited, the nearest intercity bus station might be a significant distance away, and the nearest regional airport might require more connections to complete the journey, especially when traveling to/from abroad.

Negotiating the local topography

Cobbled streets are picturesque and charming, and prevent road traffic from driving along your residential street at high speed.  They also get very slippery in the rain and can be awkward to walk over.  They are the least practical pavement type for people with mobility issues.

If you’re considering renting or buying a home which is accessible only via cobbled streets, consider the side-effects this may have on your day-to-day living.  Some back-streets leading to beautiful properties in Mexico’s rural towns and villages may be less well-developed than cobbles.  Dirt tracks, or roads with loose stones or gravel are not uncommon in rural areas.

During the seasonal rains back roads and country lanes can flood and become mud-baths. Some residents act to create a common fund among neighbors to pave a dirt road for the benefit of all the residents living alongside it; permissions must be sought and although they are usually granted, the cost of the road’s construction and its ongoing maintenance will usually be borne by the residents.

Range of amenities and local services

Rural and semi-rural places in provincial Mexico feature fewer local services and amenities: these include things like food stores, supermarkets, local markets, banks, dentists, doctors as well as leisure facilities like cinemas and restaurants.

Rural stores, the local tienditas, sell everyday basics—although most foreign residents tend to seek out a wider assortment of goods and these won’t be available without a trip to the nearest large town or city.

If you choose to live in the Mexican countryside, you will need to accept that the No Hay factor is far more prevalent in Mexico’s (semi)rural areas than it is in urbanized centers—and plan accordingly.

Access to healthcare and medical services

If access to health and medical services is important to your situation, then you should take care about where you choose to live in Mexico.  Urban areas tend to be well-served by doctors, dentists, opticians, clinics and hospitals whereas smaller towns and villages may have, at best, a small local clinic with limited facilities.

Most foreign residents who live in rural (or semi-rural) towns and villages in Mexico travel to the nearest large town or city for routine healthcare matters, including check-ups, dentistry, and eye care.

If the state of your current health carries a higher risk of requiring immediate medical attention or hospitalization —for example, if you have a known heart problem— then living in the Mexican countryside, even if only a few miles from the nearest hospital, could be problematic in the event of an emergency: as discussed earlier in this article, it often takes longer to traverse countryside roads and your journey to the nearest hospital may be delayed in a situation where every minute matters.

Social and cultural connections in rural areas

While practical aspects of a location including transport accessibility and the availability of local services and amenities are important, it’s also wise to consider the social and cultural aspects of a rural location you are considering as part of a lifestyle move.

Assessing whether a rural or semi-rural location will serve your social and cultural needs and the potential impact that a move to a countryside location will have on you requires knowing yourself—and yourselves if you are thinking about moving with a partner or family.

If you need strong cultural amenities to support your wellbeing, for example, ready access to art galleries, music halls, theater and dance, spirituality and well-being centers, as well as other cultural events, consider how the rural locations you’re short-listing provide for those—or how far you will need to travel to a larger town or city to access them.

Most rural villages and hamlets in Mexico are by definition “off the beaten path” and don’t have foreign residents living in clusters that form local ‘expat’ communities of they type which can provide an immediate ‘community of interest’ and can be especially helpful to newcomers finding their feet, and finding their way around the locality.

For some, the notion of being ensconced in a rural setting far away from the crowds is attractive and perhaps even desirable. However, if you (and your partner) need social connections to thrive, moving to a rural or semi-rural location in Mexico where there are no like-minded communities established will require more effort on your part to cultivate new friendships, and to integrate locally including the ability to speak Spanish and adapt to local customs and traditions—some of which might feel quite unusual to you, at least to begin with.

Even the most hermit-like characters discover that they need to make an effort to integrate their lifestyles amidst rural locations where local customs and traditions are keenly observed, and residents are expected to participate and contribute when important local events, festivals, and activities take place.

The free and continually-updated guide to living and retirement in Mexico, contains chapters about considering your lifestyle intentions and tips for choosing places to live in Mexico.

Liquidity of (semi)rural real estate markets

If you’re accustomed to living someplace where the buying and selling of homes is brisk and the market is liquid (that is, there are plenty of able buyers and sellers and housing transactions are fluid) then you will need to recalibrate your timescale expectations when you own a home in the Mexican countryside.

Real estate markets in Mexico are different to those in the US, Canada and Europe; and in particular, properties can take longer to sell —sometimes considerably longer— and the closing process can take longer than you might be accustomed to.  Homes in popular, often more urbanized, areas across Mexico can sell relatively quickly in a buoyant market; however, if you own a property in rural Mexico you ought to exercise patience when you decide to sell, and plan ahead with a longer sales cycle in mind.

The matter of property market fluidity can become pertinent if you need to sell due to an unexpected change in circumstances, or your life situation begins to evolve: examples include needing to move due to health reasons, a change in your personal or work circumstances, or because your children could use being closer to a school they are attending.

Rural property might not offer title deed

Another factor to consider regarding rural property in Mexico is that many idyllically located homes are not sold using titled deeds, and so you must be prepared to buy and possess the property on agrarian terms.

Many Mexicans and foreign residents live in country properties which give them possession but not title through a legal deed, and pass quiet enjoyment of their dwelling space without any problems, including selling (or bequeathing) the property to others in due course. However, it’s prudent to be aware of the terms on which you buy your rural property in Mexico, and this article describes the differences between possession and titled property.

Schooling for your children

If you have children of school age, you should plan your location with their schooling requirements in mind.  Some foreign residents choose to school their children in local Mexican schools, and some home-school, but most choose to educate their offspring at private schools.

While provincial towns and villages you shortlist for living might offer at least one privately-run elementary school, access to private secondary and tertiary education facilities is only available in larger cities in Mexico.  If you purchase a home in rural Mexico when your children are very young, a local elementary school may be adequate for their needs.

When your children grow and need secondary-level schooling, you’ll probably need to commute each school day to the nearest city where an adequate choice of schools exists, or move.  As we noted in the previous section, houses in rural and semi-rural places in Mexico usually take longer to sell than houses in urban areas.  Some families rent their country home and use the rental income to pay their rent in a city while their children are passing through their secondary school-age years. Learn more about schooling your children in Mexico and also learn about property rentals in Mexico.

Electricity supply

Mexico’s electricity supply has been improving constantly in recent decades but the reliability of rural and semi-rural electricity supply continues to trail behind urbanized areas. When the lights go out places with higher concentrations of residents tend to get higher priority for service restoration than homes situated on quiet country lanes.  Read our free guide about house maintenance in Mexico for details concerning the practicalities of house ownership, including electricity services.

Internet access and cell phone coverage

Provincial areas tend to have slower internet connection speeds than urban areas, and the same climatic conditions which cause electricity outages can cause internet connections to fail.

However, rural internet services have been improving dramatically in recent years, and some villages now have fiber optic internet lines that offer residents reliable internet access with high speed connections.

For areas which are still lacking in wired (or fiberoptic) services, access to Wireless Home Internet (internet access at home delivered over mobile data networks) is helping to alleviate provincial internet ‘dead-zones’ and providing a back-up to landline-based internet services.

Cellphone coverage is constantly improving across the country, but in rural and semi-rural towns you can expect signal strength and reliability to be less robust that coverage in more urban areas.

If your home is situated in a very rural area, where neither cabled or cellphone services are available, satellite internet is an option, and services like Starlink offer high speed and reliable connections, even during rain storms.

Maintaining and securing a country home in Mexico

Bigger country homes, like bigger automobiles, need more maintenance; large gardens need constant tending; swimming pools require routine care, and when you’re away you need to take additional steps to mitigate burglaries which are common in countryside homes, especially if they are left unattended by their owners for more than a few days.

Read our free and regularly-updated guide about house maintenance and home security in Mexico for comprehensive insights about the practicalities of house ownership here; including regular maintenance, as well as guidance and tips for securing and insuring your home against physical damage and burglary.

Dealing with noise

Mexico’s countryside is not always as quiet and tranquil as one might expect. Local festivals and events tend to be highly energetic with loud music and fire crackers often prominent features of these local gatherings.

If your home in Mexico is situated well off the beaten path, perhaps entirely surrounded by rural country fields, forested areas, or even jungle, then the sound of cicadas, crickets, wild animals, tropical birds, and even spider monkeys might be an integral part of your daily (or nightly) soundscape.

In more built-up areas, local churches ring bells and set-off loud fire crackers on all types of occasions: weddings, christenings, and Saint’s Days to name a few; sometimes at unusual hours.

Dogs barking on roof-tops, local traffic noise, ad-hoc parties and festivities at neighboring homes, as well as the constant parade of local merchants driving past in cars and small trucks with loud-speaker announcements offering to buy or sell a myriad of goods and services are all features which might contribute to the local soundscape around you.

This soundscape is not unique to the countryside, but it’s worth remembering that living in a rural idyll doesn’t exclude you from it.

In summary

There are some truly beautiful and picturesque rural and semi-rural towns and villages in Mexico, but as you’re exploring places to live, it’s important to remain focused on the practical aspects of living day-to-day in the place of your choice.

Considering your needs

Weighing-up the choices between living in a Mexican rural idyll and an urban conurbation (or somewhere in-between) brings into play a range of practical and personal considerations.

Some people enjoy the diverse culture with ready-access to an abundant range services and amenities afforded by living in urbanized areas, while others prefer the relative tranquility and simpler lifestyles afforded by rural Mexico.

For all the compromises, a country home in Mexico can provide an idyllic lifestyle for you and your family: with near-perfect climates, gardens that burst with color and fragrance, and an abundance of affordable space, it’s no surprise that rural Mexico remains a popular choice for foreign residents exploring options here.

The counterbalance is that every activity you engage with when you live in a rural place will take at least a little bit more effort than if you live in an urban environment.  And consider also the responsibilities of country home ownership across the generations.

Our free guide about Living and Lifestyles in Mexico contains an entire chapter about the importance of setting out your intentions and identifying your true needs.

Your life-stage and personal priorities

Ultimately, whether the Mexican countryside is a good choice for you will depend on your life-stage, your lifestyle preferences, personal priorities, and practical matters, for examples, the state of your general health, whether you have children to school, and how much regular access you need to certain things and services like professional contacts for work, local shops, healthcare services, road transport links, and airports.

Take time to pause and consider your social and cultural needs too.  There’s a difference between consciously intending to create a simple lifestyle ‘far from the madding crowd’ —and being mindful about the compromises of doing that— versus inadvertently isolating yourself (and your partner and family) from things and matters that are important to your life styles and wellbeing.

Our free guide to living and lifestyles in Mexico highlights the importance of taking your partner’s and other family members’ needs carefully into account to avoid potentially troublesome situations when choosing a place to live in Mexico.

Measure twice, cut once

Taking time to choose your location with care pays dividends in the longer term. Rushed decisions driven by impulse or whimsical notions —especially when you’re buying a property here— are costlier to recover from if you discover the compromises after the fact.

Recognizing the difference between your immediate and forthcoming lifestyle needs, reflecting on these and considering your choices pragmatically will help you to make informed decisions.  This is one reason why we recommend you rent for a while before committing to buy, unless you’re already familiar with the area and confident about your intentions and the location’s attractions in relation to them.

Some people use a process of trial-and-error, moving around to different types of places before they choose a location to settle longer term: this can work, but it will demand more time, effort, and funds from you.

Discover places to live in Mexico

Discover interesting and charming locations to live, work or retire in Mexico, and articles with helpful insights about choosing a place to settle here on our section about Places to Live.

Resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• Articles and guides help you plan your lifestyle in Mexico
• Insightful articles about living and lifestyle in Mexico
• Complete and continually-updated guides to aspects of living in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

Supermarkets aren’t the only shop in town

In places like the US and the UK, supermarkets have steadily lured custom away from local stores by offering customers enormous ranges of goods including comestibles, homewares, hardware, and pharmaceuticals conveniently gathered in one place.  The result has been that many of the local ‘mom and pop’ stores have closed down and vanished from the trading landscape.

In Mexico, this has not come to pass.

It’s still possible and practicable to shop for your food locally in Mexico, often a short walk from your home, at convenience stores and open-air markets which provide an abundance of fresh foods delivered to the stores early each morning, or produced daily on the premises.  In recent years, there has also been a proliferation of local ‘organic markets,’ in certain towns and cities.

At these familiar centers of trade, you can get to know the local store or stall owners, talk with the butcher about which cuts are best for a meal you want to prepare, choose seasonable fruit and vegetables from ripe selections, wrap warm corn tortillas into a cloth cover almost straight from the oven or griddle that produces them, and buy delicious and tasty bolillo bread rolls which are baked continuously throughout the day.

Local independent stores you’ll still find in Mexico

The choice of local, specialized, food stores in Mexico’s cities, towns and villages is ample and inviting. Store names you’ll see regularly include:

• Frutas y Legumbres — the local greengrocer selling fresh fruits,  vegetables, herbs and spices;
• Polleria — offering fresh chicken, they also sell eggs and condiments to compliment chicken dishes;
• Rosticeria — roast chickens from a spit; they also sell sauces and other condiments to complement a roast chicken meal;
• Carniceria — butcher, selling a variety of meat, and offering advice on different cuts;
• Tortilleria — selling freshly pressed, warm tortillas, straight off the machine that makes them, and in some places they are hard-pressed and cooked on a hot plate;
• Salchichoneria — delicatessen; selling a range of hams, cold cuts, cheeses, hors d’oeuvres, and other cured meats;
• Panaderia — locally bakery, selling fresh sweet and savory breads;
• Pescaderia — fish mongers; these are more often seen at coastal locations.

Ambulant street vendors add choices

In addition to the established local stores and open-air markets, you will often see ambulant traders parked on the street selling fresh seasonal produce. These traders most often sell fruit or veg that is currently in abundance due to a glut harvest —examples include mandarins, oranges, pineapples, or mangoes— straight out of the back of a truck, or perhaps off a barrow or folding table which they set-up for the day.  It’s an ideal way to buy fresh seasonal produce at the lowest prices.

While millions of people will continue to shop at their local super and hypermarkets every week, there also continues to be a strong demand in Mexico for fresh foods and other essential everyday items purveyed by local stores and traders.

These local shops, open-air markets, and street traders continue to thrive in Mexico; in good part, because they are conveniently located close to local neighborhoods often in walking distance to your home, and they’re regularly  supported by local people who who value their presence in the local community.

More insights about shopping in Mexico

You can find more information about shops and shopping in Mexico including Buying Food in Mexico, Local Stores in Mexico and Local Markets in Mexico, here on Mexperience.

An influential visit

One of their earlier trips took them to Patricia’s friend’s house, situated in the highland town of Tepoztlán, near Cuernavaca —about an hour’s drive south of Mexico City— and this short weekend break left an impression on Steve that would change the course of his life, as he recalled, “…that first night, we were sitting together facing a log fire and looking at the mountains when a yellow dome began to rise between two cliffs.  We watched in awe as a full moon ascended, beautifully illuminating the cliffs—and it cast an immediate enchantment on both of us.”

Some months later, Steve was back in Mexico and together he and Patricia rented a house for a month in Tepoztlán, a town that Patricia had admired for decades, but for Steve, a place that had only just begun to weave its charms around him.

Tepoztlán: Close to nature, not too far from Cuernavaca

Tepoztlán’s impressive copper-tone mountains offer an agreeable backdrop for Steve, who prefers the openness of the rural countryside but also seeks easy access to local amenities. “The town is big enough for everyday needs, and close enough to Cuernavaca when we need supermarkets and healthcare services,” Steve remarks.

The cobble-stone streets, the local stalls with sellers of fresh fruit and vegetables, and the colorful artisan markets that set-up at the weekends when the tourists come to town add to the charm and character of this rural enclave.  The warmth and welcoming nature of the local people was another big draw for Steve, and it was during this second visit that he made the decision to move here.

Finding a house to buy in Mexico

The process of searching for and eventually finding a home they both liked took longer than they had anticipated.  With a checklist of practical requirements, they visited different house styles from stand-alone properties situated in neighboring rural villages to newly-built condominiums set inside gated communities near Tepoztlán’s center—but for varying reasons the properties were not suitable, or owners were unresponsive when they made an offer.

Steve recalls how, “one seller refused to answer an asking-price offer for weeks and when she finally responded, the price had been raised!” Although the process was, at times, frustrating, it was the second visit —underpinned by a longer house rental lasting several months— that gave them adequate time to buy a home.  With less haste, and with the assistance of a local realty agent they found helpful and supportive, they were able to view more properties, and take a calmer approach to the buying process.

A well-situated home that ‘feels right’

Steve reflects on how he and Patricia agreed the property ‘felt right’ from the moment they stepped-in: they love its character, its colonial architecture, and the breath-taking views and sunsets it offers across the surrounding valley.  Steve said that he never could have afforded a house of this style and quality back home, “I’d need to have saved twice as much money for retirement to live this lifestyle in the United States.” He considered the purchase price to be a good value, and the ongoing maintenance and taxes are affordable, as well.

The house they bought is situated close enough to the center of town for everyday amenities, and far enough away so as to enjoy an idyllic rural setting.  The 18 year-old property met their key criteria and, although it was in need of some repair —in particular, the roof needed resealing and retiling— these works added-up to no more than 10% of the property price and they have since spent about another 20% on upgrades and enhancements.

Settling-in to Mexican life and daily routines

By investing in the property and making the house comfortable, Steve began to put down his first roots in Mexico.  Discovering Mexico through his relationship with Patricia and taking an active role in the local community has deepened his endearment for the country and its people.

New friends, new perspectives

Steve’s enthusiasm is palpable when he talks about the new friendships he has been able to forge, “I have met so many interesting, engaging and thoughtful people here,” Steve says, “within Patricia’s social circles, with our neighbors and their friends, many who are Mexican and others from overseas, and the wonderful local people, from the builders to the market sellers we’ve gotten to know over time.  Everyone here is so warm and friendly, and I’ve been able to forge bonds with people of the kind that I wasn’t often able to back in the States.”

Learning to adapt

Steve concedes that he finds some aspects about living in Mexico difficult at times, and that some expectations he had imported from his US lifestyles are being gradually peeled away. “I would get very irritated at how long it took to drive through town, with tourists and slow delivery trucks holding-up the traffic,” he says. “The electricity power cuts were annoying, but the service has improved over time; and anyway, I’m relaxed about power cuts and traffic now.”

Learning the language

He admits that his frustrations are sometimes exacerbated by his reluctance to speak Spanish and he knows his experiences would be more enriching here if he did.  In reflection of the last couple of years he remarks —almost wistfully— that being in Mexico is teaching him so much; helping him to slow down and widen his perspectives; encouraging him to enjoy what is, and not live in continual resistance.

Perceptions of safety

The concerns vocalized by some of his family and friends when he announced he was moving to Mexico full-time, particularly fears they held around security and the drug cartels, have been allayed.  “I feel very safe in Mexico, and when friends and family come to visit, they witness the calm here firsthand, and those fears they carry melt away.”

Reflections on the decision to move to Mexico

Steve confidently asserts that his move to Mexico was one of the best decisions he’s made.  “Every day, Mexico surprises me, and I love the serendipity of life situations here.  Patri and I live in this beautiful highland town, we spend days taking care of our home and garden in this extraordinary temperate climate; we regularly welcome friends and neighbors, we hike, we travel in Mexico, and I still have plenty of time to keep my blog updated!” He concludes by adding, “I could not have wished for a happier and more fulfilling retirement than the one I have.”

Steve’s blog —StephenAlanTimm.com— offers readers articles and essays that share knowledge and understanding he acquired over the course of a lifetime working as a professional psychologist.  His intention is to help people find ways to live life more peacefully, and with a sense of abundance.

The point of no return

We asked him if he would ever return to the US to live.  He takes a long pause to contemplate, and then replies, thoughtfully, “only if a major healthcare issue obliges me to go back.  I consider Mexico my home.”  The point of no return happened on the occasion of the first birthday party he celebrated at the new house in October 2018. “There were about 20 people present; and as I looked around that late afternoon, an awareness came to me that I felt so at home, and comfortable here.  In that moment, I realized that this is where I belong.”

Resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• Insightful articles about living and lifestyle in Mexico
• Complete guides to aspects of living in Mexico
• A library of free Mexico eBooks you can download
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

The sweeping landscape of Mexico’s central highlands (also known as the Mexican Altiplano) is home to some of the country’s most picturesque and agreeable colonial towns and cities which offer an abundance of character and culture—and the benefits of mountain living.

The benefits of mountain living in Mexico

Living at elevation —typically, Mexico’s inland colonial towns and cities are situated at elevations of at least 4,000 feet above sea level— offers several benefits:

Ideal climates

Many places situated at elevation in Mexico offer the benefit of year-round temperate, low-humidity, climates created by a combination of the locations’ latitude and an average elevation around 6,000 feet above sea level which make it a pleasure to live and be outdoors, and an ideal location to enjoy active outdoor activities.

Enjoy plenty of daylight all-year

Year-round and especially during the winter, you benefit from at least ten hours of daylight every day of the year, with no shortage of daylight hours in the winter, and you also enjoy extended light into the evenings during the late spring and summer months.  You can learn about climates through the seasons in Mexico here on Mexperience.

Fresh highland air and breathtaking views

Enjoy crisp, fresh, mountain air which complements the magnificent views from local vantage points, and elevations that can aid your good health and general well-being without being too high so as to become uncomfortable.

Access to good local infrastructure and amenities

Many of Mexico’s popular colonial highland towns and cities offer provincial living with plenty of local fresh food and produce markets, (much of it grown locally), independent shops and boutique traders, with accessibility to popular big-brand stores, outlets, and supermarkets as well as specialized stores offering foods and homewares foreign residents often seek out when living here. Most colonial cities also have adequate-to-excellent healthcare facilities locally; in smaller towns, more extensive facilities are available in larger nearby cities.

Well-connected to transport links

You’ll discover that the highland towns are well connected by modern roads, most are serviced by frequent intercity bus services, and some also have airports nearby. High-speed internet access is available in your home, as well as wireless data over advanced mobile networks which form part of Mexico’s extensive communications infrastructure.

Integrate into genuine local communities

Many of the colonial towns and cities offer you the opportunity to participate and integrate in local communities.  Here you can discover authentic neighborhoods and real local community spirit, and if you choose to, you can integrate with local lifestyles and community groups, and forge long-term friendships.

Considerations for mountain living in Mexico

Mountain living isn’t for everyone.  Some people yearn to be near the ocean with year-round warmth, whereas highland towns tend to be cooler—and may even get cold at times during the winter months.  A very small number of people find that they can’t adjust to living at higher elevations, while others find the mountain towns too remote, rural, or provincial for their lifestyle preferences or intentions.

If you’re unsure, visit for an extended stay

An ideal way to determine if mountain life in Mexico will suit you is to invest in a trial period —perhaps six months to a year— and see how you respond to the experience.  When you take the time to explore, you’ll discover thriving communities where, when you’re prepared to integrate, local people will come to know and greet you by name, you’ll cultivate appreciable relationships, you’ll give and receive value as you trade at the local markets through transactions which feel human and personal… and over time, you become the community you seek.

When you look with care you’ll also find the very best of Mexico in these places—people, culture, climate, food, amenities, and real local communities. For some, Mexico’s highland towns and cities become exceptionally special places to live.

Choosing between urban and (semi) rural settings

Other than Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey, Mexico’s highland towns and cities are situated in provincial (rural or semi-rural) settings and we recommend your consider whether living in the Mexican countryside would suit you, as well as giving careful thought to your lifestyle needs as a whole as you short-list potential places to live instead of looking at certain aspects in isolation.

As with other places you may consider moving to in Mexico, you’ll need to plan and prepare for your new lifestyle, you might need to acclimatize to the higher elevation, and you’ll need to be prepared to forge your own story here. Hundreds of thousands of foreign residents enjoy a good life in Mexico; with some considered choices and forward planning, you could as well.

Explore highland towns and cities in Mexico

Here are some of the more popular colonial towns and cities foreign residents have settled in, as well as some which are less well-known and gaining attention in recent times.

Mexico’s colonial heartland

Querétaro, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende for traditional colonial highland cities; Aguascalientes for a more contemporary living lifestyle; and Zacatecas if you’re seeking a mountain city off-the-beaten-track and on the edge of a mountain frontier.

South-central highlands

Cuernavaca, Tepoztlán, and Puebla.  These traditional provincial highland places are situated conveniently close to Mexico City and yet are far enough removed from the congestion of the capital to enjoy a genuine provincial atmosphere and feel.  For a more rustic option off-the-beaten track in this area, consider Taxco.

In the mountains west of Mexico City

The highland lakeside towns of Chapala, and Ajijic are home to the largest community of foreign residents in Mexico; the city of Morelia offers old-world colonial elegance, and the ancient highland town of Pátzcuaro offers an attractive blend of colonial indigenous cultures amidst an intimate colonial setting. If you’re seeking an urban lifestyle at elevation, Guadalajara offers vibrancy, culture, and all the benefits of a large metropolitan city, and is close to Ajijic, Chapala, and Jocotepec—small towns settled along the northern shoreline of Lake Chapala and home to tens of thousands of foreign residents, most from the US and Canada.

Further south, to Oaxaca and Chiapas

Oaxaca City remains one of the most authentic and cultured colonial cities in Mexico; and further south, in the breath-taking state of Chiapas, you’ll find the highland mountain town of San Cristobal de las Casas—somewhat off-the-beaten-track and close to the traditional indigenous mountain communities of San Juan Chamula and Zinacatán.

Discover more places to live in Mexico

Discover interesting and charming locations to live, work or retire in Mexico, and articles with helpful insights about choosing a place to settle here.

Resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• Detailed knowledge about planning a move in Mexico
• Insightful articles about living and lifestyle in Mexico
• Detailed insights about retirement in Mexico
• Practical insights for planning your Mexico lifestyle
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

Affordable fresh produce

When you’re visiting Mexico, you’ll get to experience the food each day on your meal tables, and when you’re living here you’ll enjoy immediate access to fresh wholesome produce at very affordable prices.

Shopping at local markets and buying your comestibles from purveyors of specialty foods like bakers, butchers, and fishmongers will provide you with fresh food at the most affordable prices.  You will need to speak some Spanish to navigate your way around these local stores as the traders rarely speak much English.

Another way to source local produce is to visit a farmers’ market (sometimes referred to artisan food or organic markets) which set-up in some towns and cities across the country.  These tend to be more expensive than local markets, and some of them only operate during the high-season.  They all offer a social event as well as being a shopping venue and if you don’t speak any Spanish the traders (or organizers) are usually able to assist with translation.

Seasonal fruits and vegetables

Supermarkets in the US, Canada, and Europe have effectively deseasonalized their fresh produce shelves by flying-in foods from around the world.  In Mexico, no one is flying-in food to sell at your local market hall, open-air tianguis or farmers’ market: you buy what’s available in-season locally, and enjoy different flavors when the season changes.  There is something quite special about anticipating the experience of eating deliciously ripe mangoes which become abundant from late spring, enjoying them at their peak in the summer, and not expecting them to be there after September.

Good food that’s nutritionally-rich and deliciously tasty is readily available and it’s affordable.  Whether you’re visiting for a week or two, or living in Mexico part-time or full-time, you’ll have an opportunity to eat delicious fresh produce grown and harvested locally.

Part of a healthy lifestyle

Eating fresh produce helps you to feel better, think better, and live better.  It helps you to accomplish more with your day and keeps your body’s natural immune system strong.  When treated in the context of a lifestyle choice, wholesome fresh food is also part of your healthcare plan.  If as part of a lifestyle adjustment you’re also seeking to change your diet to one that features more fresh ingredients with less processed foods and additives, you’ll be able to do that less expensively in Mexico than you can in the US, Canada, or Europe.

You can learn more about the many places you can shop for food in our guide to Shopping and Local Markets in Mexico, which also includes a list of the names in Spanish describing local food purveyors including pescaderia, panaderia, and verdureria—purveyors of the type which have become scarce in some developed countries, but which are still thriving local businesses here.

For one couple, the desire to simplify their lifestyle led them to create a situation that facilitated an entirely ‘off-grid’ living experience in Mexico, reducing their material possessions to only what they need and becoming enthusiastic conservationists.

Letting-go of complex lifestyles

Fernando and Eva (pictured above) grew up and lived in modern European cities.  They both developed successful careers there: Fernando as an advertising executive, and Eva as a body therapist specializing in acupuncture.  They arrived in Mexico separately, although each of them felt a calling to find abundance and fulfillment without the trappings of the complex lifestyles they had created in Europe.

Fernando bought a sailboat and spent several years navigating the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and South Pacific—eventually making landfall in Mexico where he has lived for over 25 years, mostly off-grid.  Eva arrived in Mexico more recently, seeking an alternative lifestyle and found that Mexico provided an environment for her to experience a meaningful transformation in her life situations.  When Fernando and Eva met, they discovered a shared desire to live their lives simply and set-out together to realize this endeavor.

Practical aspects of off-grid living

Fernando’s experience of living on the high seas for an extended time, as well as traveling across Mexico and living off-grid, taught him a lot about the practical aspects of living independently from many of the services and utilities we all tend to take for granted living day-to-day, including electricity, gas, water, municipal drainage, and telephone services.

Land and accommodations

Fernando and Eva found a small field in the Mexican countryside about an hour south of Mexico City, and through a local arrangement pay a minimal monthly rent to the landowner.  The field rent includes the dispensation of fresh drinkable water from the landlord’s neighboring property. They converted an old school bus into a simple and comfortable living quarters that includes a kitchenette, a shower, and a bedroom.  Canopies provide extended outdoor living spaces, an ideal arrangement given the year-round temperate climate they live in.

Utilities, cooking, and dealing with waste

They often cook their meals outdoors under one of the canopies using a stove that is fired using a small gas cylinder.  (They’re working on a project to create their own hydrogen gas using solar power.)  All their lighting, electricity, and hot water is sourced from solar panels—the abundance of sunlight in Mexico is an ideal place for using solar.  The drainage system is also off-grid: their outdoor toilet works like an eco-decomposer that recycles waste back into the ground; that, and their food compost, breaks down to become natural fertilizer for the vegetables they grow on-site.

Keeping in contact

They don’t have a telephone line but use their mobile phones for communication.  They hand-wash clothes and don’t need a dryer as the warm climate air-dries them in short order.  To get around they use local public transportation, and drive their old VW Beetle ‘bug’ car when they need the carry space.  Over the years they have become as independent from the grid as they can, without cutting themselves off from their local friends and community, nor from their friends and family abroad.

You can learn more about how Fernando and Eva are living their off-grid lifestyle by reading this article

Is ‘off-grid’ living right for you?

Choosing to live off-grid intentionally requires considered thought, and detailed planning.  Through years of living off-grid Fernando and Eva have accumulated direct experience and intricate knowledge of the very practical day-to-day advantages and challenges of living this way.

Key questions you should ask yourself

These are some of the key questions to contemplate when you’re considering an ‘off-grid’ lifestyle in Mexico:

• Is off-grid living a workable option for you, given your personal circumstances?
• Is Mexico the right country for you, and what locations in Mexico make good off-grid living locations?
• Will you choose to live off-grid on the land in a camper, RV or bus, or on a boat—and what are the implications with each of those choices?
• Should you buy land or rent? What are the pros and cons, and what do you need to know about buying rural land in Mexico?
• Do you build a comfortable ‘brick-and-mortar’ house that is completely off-grid or live more rustically in a bus or RV?
• What are the practicalities of living on a boat moored in Mexico, or inside a bus or camper/RV?
• How do you deal with everyday practical issues like drinking water, sanitation, food storage and preparation, transport, and communications?
• How do you plan for routine healthcare matters, and medical emergencies?
• What are the key advantages of living simply this way—and what adjustments will you have to make if you choose to adopt this type of lifestyle?

Living off-grid is not a good choice for everyone and those who are contemplating an off-grid lifestyle should take time to evaluate their intentions and assess their current circumstances.

If you have experience of living off-grid, in Mexico or elsewhere, you can use the comments section below to share your own experiences.

Because it’s grown locally the food is much fresher, it may not have to be refrigerated, and its transportation costs are lower. Most of the ‘exotic’ fruits and vegetables which are relatively expensive overseas — like avocados, limes, mangoes, and papaya — are readily available at lower prices in Mexico because they are all grown locally and so don’t require the complex, time-sensitive, transport logistics needed to export and sell fresh foods to far-distant places.

Restaurants and local Mexican diners, known as comedores, source their ingredients from local markets, and the lower price of fresh food ingredients here is one of the reasons why eating out is not as expensive as it is in the US, Canada, and Europe.

If you simplify your diet by eating more fresh local produce and buying less processed food, you can cut your monthly grocery bill dramatically by living in Mexico. “Luxury” food items, like imported European cheeses, imported wines and spirits, some cured hams, as well as other specialty foods, tend to cost the same or more in Mexico that the price in their country of origin—making them expensive relative to local earnings.

Whether you are visiting Mexico and want to visit the local markets, or when you’re staying here longer, you can learn more about buying food on our guide to Markets and Shopping in Mexico.

If you want more details about the price of foods (as well as a wide range of other goods and services), connect to the the Guide to the Cost of Living in Mexico here on Mexperience, which contains a comprehensive analysis that will enable you to consider your lifestyle choices and make a detailed comparison of prices between foods, goods, and services in your home country and those in Mexico.